The present invention relates generally to telecommunications networks and, more particularly, to systems and methods for the transmission of voice and data information over a communications network, including the routing, interconnection, and third-party control of such information.
In the past, telephone calls and the voice data associated with such calls were transmitted over conventional plain old telephone systems. More recently, Voice-over-IP (VOIP) technology has emerged as a popular and cost effective alternative for transmitting and receiving voice data. VOIP technology has created an opportunity for telecommunications providers to combine both voice and data services through one medium. This convergence has resulted in the possibility of using separate networks for transmitting and controlling communications (i.e., one network to provide a communications path and another different network to initiate and control a communications session).
The ability to initiate a communications session independent of the endpoints connected to the transmission channels is generally referred to as third-party call control. An example of third-party call control is a click-to-dial capability that allows a user to initiate voice communications from a computer.
Providing session control independently of the endpoints involved in transmitting call information provides applications engineers with a host of new service options. For example, in addition to click-to-dial services, third-party call control typically supports flexible conference control services, such as network-initiated streaming content services, and the ability to provide a general set of application programming interfaces (APIs) accessible to third-party application developers.
Modern multimedia networks allow for the separation of the signaling from media transport and for the separation of applications from the signaling and media aspects of a communications session. Third-party application servers can create, delete, and modify the attributes of parties participating in a call.
Third-party call control interfaces, however, such as Computer Supported Telecommunications Applications (CSTA), Java Telephony Application Programming Interface (JTAPI), and Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) were created during a time period when central network entities were assumed to be intelligent software controlled computer systems and the network endpoints (e.g., telephones) were relatively simple devices.
As the cost of relatively powerful digital processing devices has decreased and the ability to provide high bandwidth data connections has improved, intelligent multifunctional endpoints have emerged. Although these endpoints have sophisticated autonomous features, they often have difficulty interacting with 3PCC services within the network. Further complicating this problem from the network standpoint is the presence of both simple and intelligent endpoints connected to the same network, each of which may require different commands to effectively and efficiently execute third-party call control.
Accordingly, what is needed is a communications network with the ability to discriminate between simple and intelligent endpoints to provide third-party call control services that are appropriate for each endpoint type.
In view of the foregoing, it would therefore be desirable to provide systems and methods that allow intelligent endpoints to effectively interact with networks having third-party call control features.
It would also be desirable to provide systems and methods that allow networks that provide third-party call control features to effectively interact with both intelligent and simple endpoints.
It would therefore be further desirable to provide systems and methods that allow a communications network to provide third-party call control features that discriminate between simple and intelligent endpoints and provide third-party call control features that are appropriate for each endpoint type.